Facebook Releases Whitepaper of Upcoming Payment Service Libra

By Coinstats’ Portfolio Management App: Facebook today released the whitepaper of its upcoming payment service dubbed as Libra.

The social media giant stated that Libra will be a non-volatile, blockchain-based cryptocurrency, whose goal will be to bank all the unbanked people across the world. The project, according to the whitepaper, has received support from global financial giants, including Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal.

Libra is a spin-off of several existing blockchain projects, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, two of the leading protocols by market valuation. The only thing that separates the Facebook coin from its peers is centralization and privacy. Facebook stated that they will back the cryptocurrency by a permissioned blockchain in the early days. However, the firm promised that they would later transit to a permissionless digital ledger.

Not so Private

As for privacy, Libra will require users to go through a know-your-customer process for registration. The same requirement does not exist in decentralized blockchain protocols like Bitcoin, which focuses hugely on anonymity.

Libra will not share account information or financial data with Facebook, or with any third party without the client’s consent, clarified the whitepaper. For example, personal information and financial data will not be used to improve Facebook ads.

Although, there will be some exceptions such as fraud and crime prevention, and legal compliance that would prompt Facebook to share customers’ data with third parties.

Calibra Wallet

Calibra will be the digital wallet that would store Libra tokens. Facebook confirmed that it will integrate Calibra into its existing services, including WhatsApp, Messenger, and – nonetheless – its social media platform.

“Libra holds the potential to provide billions of people around the world with access to a more inclusive, more open financial ecosystem,”

said David Marcus, the Facebook executive who is heading Calibra.

Libra will be fully supported by the Libra Reserve, which will back the token issuance with a pooled reserve of fiat assets, including the US dollar and Euro.

What do you think about Facebook’s new project? Would it have a negative impact on the now-bullish bitcoin market? Tell us in the comment box below.